Kenya Police veteran midfielder, Duncan Otieno, has urged Kenyan footballers to work hard and make the country proud at the international stage.
Otieno urged local players to borrow a leaf from their counterparts in the Zambian Super League where he plied trade for Lusaka Dynamos before returning to the country in October to pen a two-year deal with Police.
“Kenyan sides need to unleash all their arsenals on the continental front and prove the country's mettle in football. If you look at how teams from Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania are performing in Caf Champions League, then you are left wondering what Kenyan clubs are not doing well enough.”
“We have some of the best coaches around, so our lukewarm performances have absolutely nothing to do with lack of knowledge and training by the technical bench but rather the ability of the players on the pitch,” said the midfielder.
When Police secured landmark promotion to the country's top tier, the management went on an all-out shopping spree geared towards making the side more competitive.
Otieno was one of the gems on the law enforcers' radar as they frantically rummaged through the foreign and local leagues for talent.
Despite all the investment, nothing much seems to reflect on their performance thus far.
Out of the six league encounters they have been involved in this season, they have only managed a solitary win after crushing four times and securing one draw.
And even after bringing former Harambee Stars tactician Jacob 'Ghost' Mulee on board as their technical director, Police are still firing blanks.
Otieno has, however, called for patience in the camp, saying it might take a while before the side ultimately gets to gel.
“We are a freshly assembled side and we need more time to gel before we can start delivering consistently. So far, our run doesn't seem to impress given we have managed only one win from six matches,” said Otieno, adding that he is ripe for Harambee Stars.
“I most certainly feel I deserve a place in the national team. However, the fact that the coaches haven't given me the opportunity is clear enough there is something I still have to work on. I'm certainly going to push myself to the required level.”
“I have one assist so far and look to having more by the end of the season. My role as a midfielder is to create goalscoring opportunities for my team."
Born May 26, 1994, Otieno previously featured in 20 league matches for AFC Leopards in the 2014/2015 season before moving to Posta Rangers in 2016. He found his way back into Leopards in 2017–2018 and stayed there for two seasons before linking up with Nkana in the Zambian Super League.
In 2020 he joined Lusaka Dynamos where he was until last month when he joined Kenya Police.
